Alexander's Journal
by Rylitah
Summary: Sometimes Alexander wonders if letting the other stay in his castle was really worth it. For every crazy and absurd thing his apprentice does, he writes about it in his journal. Spoilers.
1. Chemical Failure

Sometimes Alexander wondered if taking in the boy was really worth it.

He knew Daniel meant well, he really did, but sometimes the other just proved to be…too much of a hassle. Daniel most definitely was not the sharpest tool in the shed, but the boy did do his best to help him with tasks. Alexander found that he couldn't quite stay angry with the other for very long; Daniel just had a sort of vibe about him that made you want to just forgive him easily. Which is what Alexander did most of the time.

However, Daniel's foolish actions had been becoming more and more frequent, and Alexander was losing sleep because of it. Daniel had to stay awake most of the time in fear of his nightmares while Alexander was the one who would either console him or simply ignore his screams and whimpers and just simply get his own rest. The older male found it horrifying to see that the situations were becoming reversed.

It started off simple; Daniel would just help the older male around the castle doing easy tasks such as taking out the garbage("Alexander, why is this bag so heavy and why does it smell awful-" "Ignore it."), cleaning the dungeons("Alexander, why is there a dungeon-" "Don't ask questions. Continue scrubbing." "Alexander, what is this red stuff on the floor? It won't come off-" "Old chemicals that I spilled once. Ignore it."), and other like things.

Then one day, Daniel had asked if Alexander could take him along while the older male did his 'duties'.

Of course, Alexander had immediately refused, and ordered Daniel to his temporary room. However, Daniel was stubborn and stayed exactly where he was until the older male finally gave in and allowed the shorter male to come along with him.

The two spent the entire day walking throughout the castle doing absolutely nothing.

It wasn't that Alexander was afraid of allowing Daniel to find out about the prisoners locked deep within the castle and what he did to them, because Alexander was planning on having Daniel himself join him in the tortures and punishments he gave out. He simply felt that it was too early. The boy was naïve, and was a bit of a fool. There was simply no telling what would happen if Daniel were to find out about his deeds now.

But somehow, even on a simple walk through the castle, Daniel _still _managed to mess everything up.

Alexander decided to keep a journal with him at all times, to write down the crazy and absurd things that his apprentice did.

Unfortunately, he found himself writing in it every single day.

**OoO**

Entry number one:

Dear Journal,

I will not give a date, for today's date is unimportant and I feel as if it won't matter in the end. I am starting this journal in order to log whatever bizarre thing Daniel has managed to cause. If I am lucky, I will not have to write in this very often.

Today, I decided to take Daniel down to the laboratory because he always seemed to be interested in the chemicals located there and I, being the good man that I am, decided to humour him.

_Why yes, Alexander, you are so very kind!_

What…Daniel, get out of here! Do not read or write in this journal ever again, do you hear me?

_But…You are writing about me, correct? Shouldn't I deserve to know what you write about me?_

No. This is my…private journal. What I write in here is strictly for my own business. If you are so eager to write in a journal, why don't you get one of your own?

_I already have my own, however. …Maybe we could share?_

No! No! I do not wish to share journals with you and-wait. Is your journal the one I see you scribbling in every single day?

_Why yes. I've had a diary for quite some time now…Even before I came to Brennenburg, I've had it, actually. Would you like to read it?_

No. Now get out of here. How do you keep stealing my journal, anyway?

_Well, you keep writing in it and putting it on the table. Then you walk out while shaking your head muttering things under your breath that I can't understand, though I have heard my name pop up quite a few times. While you are gone, I simply read what you last wrote and I write my own reply. Then you walk back in, read what I wrote, write something back, then leave again._

Really, now…

_Yes. See, you did it again._

That's it. I'm bringing this journal everywhere I go now.

So anyway. I decided to take Daniel down to the laboratory today, and of course the very first thing he does is run to the chemical cabinet. I warned him to be careful, but he seemed too engrossed in reading the labels on the bottles that he most likely didn't hear me. I asked him if he wanted to mix something together, and he eagerly responded yes.

I allowed him to gather the chemicals he wanted to use; he did so eagerly. He ended up bringing me bottles of Cuprite, Calamine, Orpiment, and…something else. Do not judge me, it is late in the evening and I should be going to bed soon.

We decided to mix all of them together using the equipment in the laboratory. I had a feeling that something bad was about to happen, but I could not for the life of me remember what it was at the time.

**OoO**

"Alexander?" The young man leaned over the desk, watching the beakers in awe before turning to his elder. "You seem uneasy. Is something wrong?"

"Ah, no." Alexander lied. It had become something very easy to do when one was an evil mastermind of torture and deceitfulness. "It's just…there is something about this certain combination that I feel something may be wrong with, but I can't remember exactly what it is…Step back Daniel, in case something is indeed wrong with the mixture."

Daniel nodded and complied; taking two small steps back before focusing his attention on the mixing chemicals once more.

"Alexander?"

"_What?_" Alexander nearly snapped. The constant calling of his name was certainly annoying; and it was now starting to get on his nerves. _Alexander, Alexander, Alexander? _That was the first thing Daniel _always _said when he had something to say to the baron. Even if it weren't a question Daniel had in his mind, and he were simply making a comment about something, he would always start it off with calling his elder's name.

"…" Daniel did not say any more, sensing Alexander's irritation. The older male sighed and ran a hand through his long silver hair.

"Yes, Daniel?"

"I…Oh my," Whatever Daniel was about to say had become lost on his tongue when he focused on the site in front of him. "Is the mixture supposed to be dissolving through the table like that?"

"What?" Alexander quickly turned back to the mixture and noticed that a green liquid was being poured out of the end pipe and had eaten through the bottom of the metal container and was currently devouring the table surface. "Turn off the burners! Now!"

"But-"

"No 'buts'! Turn it off!" Daniel jumped and scrambled to hastily turn off the burners. Alexander had run off to fetch a glass container to catch the acid once it had finished eating a hole through the table.

"A-Alexander? Which way does the wheel turn?" The younger male looked around for the baron, but the older male was nowhere in sight. Daniel began to panic, but shut his eyes, took a deep breath, and quickly turned the wheel in a direction he prayed was correct.

There was no such luck when he reopened his eyes. Daniel nearly screamed when the fire under the beakers had grown. He could nearly feel the heat against his face as he realized he had turned the wheel in the wrong direction. In the midst of his panic, the young man had a thought strike him that if he managed to turn the wheel in the other direction before Alexander came back, then Alexander would never know that he had done the wrong thing.

Daniel realized that his hands were still on the wheel that controlled the burners; his knuckles were turning white from the force of his grip. He quickly started to turn the wheel in the opposite direction before a roar screamed in his ears.

"DANIEL!" The mentioned male screamed and fell to the floor, letting go of the wheel as he did so. Before him stood a very angry and very seething Alexander, clutching a glass container so hard Daniel feared it would break and the glass pieces would shower all over him. In this situation, he wouldn't doubt it if Alexander had planned do to just that.

"A-Alexander, I-"

"You turned it in the wrong direction, didn't you?" He didn't wait for a reply as the answer was right in front of his eyes and still burning ever so strongly. "You can't listen to simple directions?" Alexander shoved the glass container under the table where the acid was set to spill in. He quickly strode over to the wheel of the burners and moved Daniel out of the way with his foot.

Daniel shook; he had never seen the baron this angry before…he messed up larger than he had originally thought. He watched silently as Alexander turned off the burners and waited for the acid to stop. A quick look under the table had proved that the older man had missed the mark completely and the acid was able to burn through the floor. Alexander cursed and removed the container from under the table.

A few moments passed in silence as the older male placed the glass cup on the table and turned to the other male. Daniel could feel himself shake; what was Alexander going to say to him?

"Daniel." The mentioned male jumped at the sound of his name. "What did I tell you to do?" His voice was surprisingly soft, a huge difference to the rage that was in it just a minute before.

"Y-you told me to turn off the burners, Alexander."

"And what did you do?"

Daniel decided right then and there that he preferred a screaming, raging Alexander rather than a calm-before-the-storm type of Alexander.

"I-I…m-made the f-fire worse…"

"If I did not come back in time, what were you going to do about it?"

"I was trying to turn it off!" Daniel tried to defend himself, knowing it was useless. "I realized that I turned the wheel in the wrong direction and I tried to turn it back, but then…" He trailed off, knowing that he was just making everything seem worse.

To his surprise, Alexander ended up sighing. Daniel's eyes widened in confusion. No more yelling? No hitting? No kicking him out of the castle?

"Very well. I can see that you are being honest, so…" Alexander thought for a moment before speaking once more. "I will forgive you."

Less than two seconds later, the taller man nearly toppled over as a large weight crashed against his leg, embracing it vigorously.

"Thank you so much, Alexander!" Daniel shouted in happiness. "I am so relieved, I thought-"

"Yes, yes. But this will not go without punishment."

This stopped Daniel's 'affection' instantly.

"What…?"

"You heard me. A punishment is in order. You are going to go to bed right now, and I am removing that candle from your stand."

"What?" Daniel nearly screamed once more as he heard his punishment. "Please, no! You can not do that! Alexander, I'm afraid of-"

"Yes, I am fully aware of your fear of the dark. However, you could have burned down all of Brennenburg in that one moment. This punishment is nothing compared to the alternative." Daniel couldn't help but agree to that. "And besides," Alexander allowed himself to smirk just a little. "I'm sure you've had enough 'light' to last you the entire night, correct? You were pretty close to that fire…"

Daniel felt tears well up in his eyes at the mere thought of sleeping alone, by himself, in a cold, dark, possibly haunted room where anything could get him…

"W-will I have the comfort of you if I have another nightmare-"

"No." The answer was quick.

Alexander quickly ran out of the laboratory before Daniel could attach himself to his leg once more.

**OoO**

And that was the end of that.

I am sitting here, right now, in my bedroom, writing in this hopefully soon-to-be obsolete journal. I do not know how Daniel made it out of the laboratory and to his own bed by himself, but I believe that he has become familiarized with the castle just enough so that he knows where to go.

…

I think I can still hear his whimpering.

**OoO**

**A/N: …The Amnesia fanfiction section needed a humorous story. /shot**

**So uh, I guess I'll be updating this from time to time, see if anyone likes it first of all. xDD**

**There are so many fanart for this amazing game yet almost no fics…(not that I'm complaining about the art; they're all amazing)**

**Hey. You. Yes, you, the person reading this author's note. I want you to write an Amnesia fanfic. Like, right now. …please?**


	2. SFHLAUFHA

The day after the laboratory incident, Alexander made a mental note in his mind to get a new table and have the hole in the floor filled. It was starting to get on his nerves. In the meantime, however, he might as well do something productive.

Like torturing the newest set of prisoners and letting them know who's in charge.

He had ordered Daniel to kidnap a certain list of people; Alexander had gone through the trouble of finding out their names and making up random crimes that would stick to their name. Daniel would believe anything the older man told him, the gullible boy. This was both good and bad for Alexander; Daniel would do anything he told him to do, but if an outsider had somehow talked to the younger male about Alexander's evil deeds, Daniel would always be a bit suspicious of him.

This was why he didn't like sending Daniel out on capture missions. He usually left that to his own Grunts and Brutes; horrible mutilated monsters that knew how to remain hidden. They usually got the job done, and any witnesses would be slaughtered on the spot. They weren't needed.

However, he could not find _any _of his minions _anywhere _and so he was left with no other choice but to send Daniel out instead. He warned the boy that the people he was dealing with were criminals like murderers, arsonists, thieves and rapists, and that he must be careful for they would do anything to avoid proper justice.

Daniel had simply nodded and ran out of Brennenburg with nothing but a giant burlap sack to stuff the unconscious bodies in.

Alexander had meant to stop him and provide him with a much more efficient way of transporting the 'criminals', but a sick part of him was amused and eager to see what Daniel would come back with.

In the meantime, he would go searching for his missing servants.

Quick surveys around the prison, laboratory, wine cellar, and transept proved that the Grunts and Brutes were not in their favorite rooms. Alexander thought this was weird, he'd be able to find at least one by now. The lack of servants in the prison and transept surprised him the most; his Grunts and Brutes seemed to enjoy scaring the life out of his prisoners. His servants also seemed to like the laboratory for some reason, and he didn't know why. What scared him the most was that they also spent a lot of time down in the wine cellar, doing god knows what. He could only pray that they didn't actually drink any of the wine.

He ended up giving up shortly after that and retired to his bedroom. As he trudged up the long staircase, he decided that his servants could handle themselves and that they knew what they were doing, wherever they were. Alexander couldn't understand a word of what they said, their 'language' coming out as horrifying grunts and moans, horrible screeching and gurgling sounds. They appeared to understand everything he said, however, and so he decided that there was not a problem.

He was still thinking about this when he opened his bedroom door and was promptly smashed into the floor by a seventeen stone monster.

"Wh-what the-" Alexander looked up just in time to have the very pleasant visual of his face about to be devoured by one of his very own Grunts.

With a sudden burst of strength, he shoved the Grunt off his body and quickly stood upright, face red and seething. The look of anger and irritation on his face was completely wiped off and replace with a look of utter horror and slight confusion at the sight that had greeted him.

His entire bedroom was completely full of Grunts and Brutes.

"Y-you all-!" Alexander raged, not really knowing what to shout. "I've been looking all over this entire castle for you, and I find you here! In my bedroom! What, pray tell, are you doing here?"

The Grunts and Brutes finally noticed their master standing at the doorway, and they all immediately rushed out of the room, nearly running over Alexander in the process. By the time the pounding of footsteps had disappeared and they were probably all back in their regular spots, Alexander shook his head and walked in his room. His eyes widened as he noticed the open journal lying open on the bed.

"…They weren't actually _reading _that, were they?" He laughed to himself. "I mean, I know they can understand me, but can they even read English? The very idea is laughable." To convince himself even more, he forced out a very fake laugh. He walked over to his bed and picked up the journal. Daniel hadn't managed to mess up so far, but the boy had been out all day and who knows what could've happened to him or what he could've done.

_Well, _Alexander thought. _As long as he isn't in the walls of Brennenburg, I don't care what he does. If something happens to him, however, I will be forced to intervene…_

As much trouble as the boy caused, he really was vital and valuable to Alexander's plans. Daniel also, he thought grimly to himself, managed to keep him company and keep the boredom away. Living alone with monsters who couldn't even carry out a proper conversation with you really wasn't an ideal life to live.

And speaking of Daniel, where was the boy? He should have returned by now. A quick flash of worry washed over Alexander, but he quickly shook it away. He wasn't actually _worried _about the shorter male's wellbeing, of course he wasn't. He was just…_concerned_, for he had many uses for Daniel in the near future. And if the boy was attacked in the streets, that just wouldn't do. There was no way for Daniel to protect himself, and even if he did have a weapon with him, he would be too terrified to use it and oh no oh no oh no oh no oh-

"Alexander?"

Alexander was startled out of his thoughts by Daniel poking his head in the doorway and then walking the rest of the way in.

"I couldn't find most of the people on this list you gave me. I asked the residents if they knew where these people were, but when I told them that I was bringing them to Brennenburg, they all just screamed and ran away from me. I can not fathom why."

_Daniel,_ Alexander thought to himself, _you are an idiot._

"But!" A small smile appeared on Daniel's face. "I did manage to find this one woman. She is guilty with murder, you said. You told me that if I found someone, I was to bring them back no matter what the cost. I did not want to hurt her, but she did not go willingly. In her haste to run away from me, she ended up tripping and hitting her head on the ground. She was unconscious, and so I put her in the burlap sack. It was heavy and hard to carry, but I managed to drag it all the way back here."

"I…see." No, he did not. "Where is she?"

"She is still in the burlap sack." Daniel reached for something outside of the room and dragged a full sack in with a great amount of difficulty. Alexander noted with mild amusement that for an archeologist, Daniel was not very muscular.

"Very well. I have urgent matters to discuss with this arsonist."

"…I thought she was a murder-"

"You heard wrong." Alexander said quickly, hoping Daniel would just drop the matter. To his relief, he did. "I don't know how long we will be, so don't wait up. Why don't you go to the library or find something that will occupy you in the meantime?"

"I shall!" Daniel chirped. Alexander picked up the burlap sack with ease and was about to head down to the transept when Daniel stopped him with his voice. "Alexander?"

"What?"

"Don't forget to use protection!"

Alexander swore that that had been the fastest he had ever been running out of a room.

**OoO**

Hours later, Alexander sighed in content when the woman he was torturing _finally shut up _when her limp body slipped from the ropes and crashed onto the floor. Her screams had really annoyed him. He wasn't worried in the least about Daniel hearing the screams; the boy had was very paranoid, and would probably chalk it off as an effect.

As he wiped the blood off his hands, he couldn't help but worry that Daniel had done something wrong. Surely if the younger male had managed to make it back to Brennenburg without being attacked or kidnapped, then he should be able to handle himself, right? The should be nothing to worry about.

He was proven wrong when he made it back to the main floor.

Alexander's jaw dropped as he took in the scene in front of him. On the walls were crude paintings. They weren't awful, but they couldn't considered very good, either. Most of the paintings were of him smiling and looking happy and basically everything he was the complete opposite of. There were some paintings of the roses Alexander liked to keep in vases around the mansion, and there were some paintings of Daniel.

Daniel…he should have known. Who else would do this? His servant Grunts and Brutes would rather be killed again than face his wrath. Only Daniel would be this much of a fool to vandalize his walls. Why he would do this was completely beyond him, but oh, was he getting it-!

Alexander realized that Daniel must have been either very bored to do all of this, or simply inspired by the things the older man did for him. Either way, that did not give him the right to destroy his walls!

His heart nearly stopped as he found a painting of one of his Grunts. Surely that must have been a coincidence, right? The screams that emitted from the transept must have sparked Daniel's imagination and he simply painted what he thought was the monster causing the screams. There is no way Daniel could have seen his Grunts. The very thought alone was terrifying to him.

Alexander's pace quickened and he nearly broke into a run on the staircase. Where was Daniel? He was either probably back in his room, or painting more things on his walls. Just great. He still needed to fix the holes in the laboratory caused by the acid and now he needed to most likely replace every single wall in Brennenburg.

He walked past his bedroom and decided to take a small look in it, just in case. Hopefully Daniel didn't ruin the walls in his room, though that was highly unlikely. Alexander took a deep breath, and walked in his bedroom to see the damage.

There was little to none. Nothing was out of place, save for a giant pile of empty buckets near the door. Where had those come from? He kicked them out of the way and looked around the room, noticing Daniel lying on his bed, sleeping.

Alexander walked up to him and noticed the paint that heavily coated the shorter male's hands and arms. He was going to yell at Daniel, but seeing the younger male sleeping so peacefully changed his mind. He couldn't bring himself to wake him up. His facial features softened and he sat on his bed, patting Daniel's head and looking content.

That was when he noticed his journal clutched in Daniel's hands.

Alert shot through him as he yanked the book away from Daniel, which caused the younger male to twitch slightly, but otherwise showed no signs of waking up. Alexander quickly flipped through his journal to see exactly what Daniel had written.

**OoO**

UIEHFUHAFHJALFAHALUFHA

AFAFA

FHUIAHFUIAFAHLAF

AFHAIHUFGYEHLAH

**OoO**

…Well. That was certainly not was he was expecting. Was it a secret code? What was Daniel getting at?

Upon closer inspection, he could see that the handwriting most definitely was not Daniel's. Someone else had written in it. Who?

…The Grunts and Brutes. They were the only explanation. The style was sloppy and it looked quite horrid compared to Daniel's small and neat handwriting. Why were they messing around with his journal? What was Daniel doing with it?

He then noticed more handwriting below the jumbled mess of words, and recognized it as Daniel's. Curiosity got the better of him, and so he decided to read it.

**OoO**

_Dear Alexander,_

…_I wonder who wrote what is up there. That does not look like Alexander's handwriting, it looks very sloppy. I wonder, is there someone else living in Brennenburg with us? That could be it._

_But! That is not what I came to write about. This is Alexander's journal. He won't let me write in it for some reason, and so I am taking the chance while I can. I decided to read through what he already wrote after he took the journal away with him yesterday, and I found out that the only reason this journal exists is to write down my idiotic actions._

_I…apologize if I am a burden to you, Alexander. I do not mean any trouble! I try my best at everything I do, and yet I still manage to mess things up. I promise I will try harder. In the meantime, did you enjoy my paintings? I am not very good at art, I admit, but I hope the it's the gesture that counts. Most of it is of you, because you are very kind to me. You even offered me a way to get the Shadow off my back for good! That's more than anything anyone has ever done for me._

_Most of my life has been hard. This Shadow certainly does not make things better. The only person I think has ever cared about my wellbeing is Hazel, my sister. Have I told you about her? I don't believe I have. She was the only one who was there for me, even though she had her own illness to worry about. I tried to support both her and I, and I don't know if I've done a good job of it or not. Our father beat us, though I took it in her place, and I have never seen him lay a hand on her. If he has…I don't know if I could ever forgive myself._

_But anyway. I really do hope you enjoyed those drawings. If you've noticed, I also drew a picture of a horrid monster I've seen once here. It looks very frightening. I don't know if you've seen it, but…it's really scary! Please do be careful._

_I hope you are not mad about me painting on the walls, but I didn't know if you had anything else I could have used and I didn't want to bother you. I hope it's okay!_

_Sincerely,_

_Daniel_

_P.S._

_Did you remember to use protection? That would be awful if you didn't!_

**OoO**

Alexander's eye twitched at the last comment made by Daniel, but decided to ignore it. He took another look at the boy's peaceful sleeping face, and thought that maybe he really did mean well. It wasn't Daniel's fault that he was a walking bad luck sign. And he learned a lot more about him than he did a few minutes ago, all in this one letter. Maybe he should be easier on the boy…of course, he wasn't going to be completely nice all of a sudden! Daniel still needed discipline every once in a while.

He stood up to grab a quill from his nightstand and started writing down his entry for the day.

**OoO**

Dear Daniel,

I admit that I was a bit…shocked, to say the least, when I came back and saw your paintings all over my walls. It shocks me that you were able to do that much in just a short amount of time. I am not mad, Daniel. Maybe I'm a bit touched at your gesture, even.

But don't ever do that again.

If you really wanted to thank me for everything I've done for you, just say it to me personally, all right? It's less hazardous to the safety of my walls, and it saves me from future heart attacks.

Also, where did you get that much paint?

Sincerely,

Alexander

P.S.

…No, really. Where did you get all that paint?

**OoO**

**A/N: Seventeen stones is roughly the amount of two hundred and fifty pounds, according to my fifteen minute research. If this is wrong, please tell me so I can fix it. xDD**

**So. This chapter was longer than the last. Is that a good thing? xD This chapter had less humor, but I hope it was still enough to satisfy you. :3**

**Updates for this story will be a bit random, but I'll hopefully be able to update at least three or four times a week.**

**And again, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, because it has less humor and it got kind of serious at Daniel's note to Alexander and this is a humorous story and why did I add that ugh**

…**Yeah. xDD Thank you for reading~**


	3. In Which Hearts Rule All

When Daniel had finally woken up, he lifted his head to see the scariest sight of Alexander's creepiest smile he would ever see.

He then proceeded to scream, shove the baron off the bed, and run out of the door, still screaming his head off.

Needless to say, Alexander was very confused.

After finishing his letter to Daniel, he had placed the journal on the stand next to his bed and decided to wait for the other to wake up. His mind went to all sorts of places, such as the memories of torturing civilians for their crimes whether they were guilty or not, the sounds of fresh screams being ripped out of their throats as their bodies and minds started to shut down. Those were his happy memories.

His mind eventually trailed off to thoughts of Daniel and what he has done since arriving at Brennenburg. Other than being a constant annoyance, burning holes through the wooden table and floor, constantly stealing and writing in his own (private!) journal, and ruining the walls of his castle with crude paintings made from magically appearing paint…Daniel wasn't all that bad.

And once he could get Daniel working on torturing the prisoners with him, that would be just lovely! He'd trick Daniel into doing his very bidding; he highly doubted the boy would even notice that he was doing awful things. Of course, Alexander knew that Daniel would be reluctant to hurt another human being in the beginning, regardless of criminal status. However, he could turn the boy around easily. The two could be great partners! Oh, how he had plans for Daniel…

Alexander was hardly aware of the smile slowly stretching across his face, far too engrossed in his thoughts to notice. The smile was growing more sinister by the second as the thoughts ran through his head; the ideas just kept coming! He was hardly in the mood to stop them, however, and so he allowed his mind to wander. The torture devices he could use on new sets of prisoners, listening to their screams; it was all too delicious.

…The next thing he knew, something had pushed against his stomach and he had fallen to the floor, landing on his back. His ears nearly burst with the loud screeching that could have very well been heard throughout all of Brennenburg.

He stayed on the floor for a while, only coming to his senses when the sound of quick retreating footsteps finally got to him. …Just great. When had he started staring at Daniel? Who knows what thoughts could be running through the boys head right now; what if Daniel got the wrong idea? Alexander started to panic.

Grabbing his journal and a quill from the stand, he stood up and quickly ran out the door after Daniel. Oh, wasn't this just dandy. Ever since he started the blasted thing, Daniel had gotten worse! It was unbelievable. Alexander let out a frustrated groan as he continued to sprint down the hallway, his breathing labored. People of his age should _not _be running through giant castles chasing young paranoid men!

After what seemed like an eternity, Alexander came to the conclusion that he was getting nowhere and he allowed himself to stop running. He placed his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath. Where had Daniel gone? There was no way he could be this far! Then again, there was the huge age difference that played a factor in their speeds…

When Alexander decided that he was going to start searching for Daniel once more, he removed his hands from his knees and started brushing microscopic dust particles off his clothes. It helped him feel more dignified. He took a deep breath before taking one step forward. It was at that moment another scream echoed throughout the castle, a scream that Alexander could now very safely say belonged to Daniel.

Why was the git screaming now? Alexander dropped his journal and quill to the floor and started to rub his temples. This was simply too much stress to deal with in one sitting. He racked his mind and tried to think of all the things Daniel would scream at.

A mouse, a cockroach, mirrors, a door, Alexander, his own shadow, loud noises, footsteps, fire, water, a lever, a rock, wine, sharp tools, broken tools, blunt tools, erasers, sharp edges of paper, a feather.

…A Grunt.

Shit.

There were a couple of thumping noises from the room above him before it all fell silent. Alexander tried to control his breathing; if he was quiet enough, then maybe he could hear something else. But no. It was all horrifyingly silent. As much as he would love to hear(or rather, not hear) Daniel actually being quiet for once, the thought was terrible to him now.

And he started to panic once more.

His footsteps sounded like roars of thunder as he quickly ran to the nearest flight of stairs to see what had happened. His heart was pounding. If something bad had happened to Daniel, he didn't know what he would do. He didn't know if he could forgive himself. Of course, he didn't care if children and teenagers were harmed or killed in his torture process; he wasn't very emotionally attached to them. But he had been forced to stick with Daniel for a while now, and he had grown attached the boy. (Of course, he would never admit this on his own.)

Alexander slowed his sprint once more as he neared the door where the sound had seemingly come from. He placed his journal and quill in one hand and placed his other on the cool knob of the door. The male lightly picked his hand up and could feel it peel away with a disturbing noise; the amount of sweat layering his hand was tremendous.

He could have sworn he heard a shushing noise from inside the room, as if someone were telling their partner or companion to be quiet. If he weren't so engrossed in finding out what happened to Daniel, he would have focused on this more. Alexander took a deep breath, braced himself, and threw open the door.

Two seconds later, he started frantically scribbling in his journal.

**OoO**

Dear Journal,

I can NOT believe that I was actually worried for this git! This is…this is crazy! I nearly gave myself multiple heart attacks over this idiot, and for absolutely nothing! He's perfectly fine. There are large amounts of…pink and red hearts decorating the library, and I see the said idiot painting more! Where does he get all of his paint? I could have sworn that I do not own this much paint!

And what's worse? A Grunt. One of my very own Grunts is actually HELPING HIM paint the hearts. …Well, my Grunt's 'hearts' look as if it is splattering blood all over the wall and all over Daniel's little 'hearts', and I commend it for that. Remind me to give it another sacrifice later, journal. If you can. I mean, it would be kind of hard for you to tell me everything, and-

…Am I actually talking to you as if you are a real human being with feelings and emotions? As if you could actually talk back to me? Ha! I…I think I just may be going insane…

Anyway. The two are painting blasted hearts all over my

FUHLSDJAMKFHUAJK.

ULASHDASJDMASNHYALJD?

AUUEIHHAMHUGYLAFUJI!

…What the…Those blasted Grunts and Brutes! When I get my hands on them, I will…! Ugh!

**OoO**

Alexander allowed the journal and the quill to fall to the floor. He stood there, completely silent, as Daniel (and now his own Grunt!) continued to vandalize his walls, apparently not knowing he was there. Daniel started humming as he drew more hearts on the wall, and he hopped off the little stool he was standing on to move to the other end of the room.

He then noticed Alexander staring at him with a smile equivalent to his other one from just half an hour ago.

Daniel's first reaction was to throw the bucket of paint he was holding at Alexander's face. And that is exactly what he did. He then realized what he had just done and gasped, diving behind the Grunt's body to save his face.

"DANIEL!" Alexander screeched, his face completely covered in red. It quite fit. Daniel quivered from behind the monster, but did not reply out of fear. "Just WHAT, pray tell, are you DOING IN HERE?"

"…Painting hearts." came the muffled reply.

"And just _why,_" the older male seethed. "Are you painting hearts? In my library, no less?"

"…W-well…" Daniel stuttered. "Valentine's day was yesterday, and we didn't do anything, so…I just wanted to surprise you…Looks like that did not go too well…Oh, look!" He tried to smile once more. "This is one of the monsters I painted on the walls. I ran into him while running away from your horrifying look earlier. I thought he was going to horribly mutilate me or worse, but he is actually very kind!" He stood up and patted the Grunt on the head.

"…Daniel," Alexander's eye twitched. "My Grunt is not for petting."

"But he is really soft! He is perfect for petting!"

"No. He is meant to-" To what? Kill, kidnap, torture, mutilate?

"To what, Alexander?"

"To….do chores! You can not expect me to take care of this castle all by myself, now can you?"

"N-no, I suppose not-"

"This Grunt is one of my helpers. Do not bother them on your silly quests to destroy my castle."

"But I wasn't-"

"No buts! Do you understand me?" He felt like a parent scolding their child. In a way, that really was kind of similar to their current conversation.

"Yes, Alexander…"

"Very good. Now go to bed." Daniel instantly shot up.

"What? But Alexander, I have just woken-"

"Go to bed." He crossed the distance between them in three large steps and lightly rapped Daniel on his head. The younger male would have fallen to the ground in a heap, but the Grunt was able to catch him in time, luckily enough. Alexander looked up at his Grunt. "Take him to his room. I'll deal with him later. When you're done, go back to your regular duties!" He said the last statement in a shout and the Grunt quickly ran away, not wanting to be caught in the line of fire.

When the room was empty, Alexander finally allowed himself to relax. He needed wine. Badly. He brought his hand down on his face in exasperation.

Really, what was he going to do with that boy…

**OoO**

**A/N: Rushed chapter is rushed. Gahh. I hope it's still readable! I wanted to get this up before it got too far from Valentine's day, lol. I hope you all had a good one!**

**And I'll have Daniel do something **_**other **_**than paint on walls next chapter, I promise, lol.**

**On the bright side, Daniel now has a new monster friend! :DD**


	4. Lookit This Horse, Isn't He Amazing?

A few days had passed since the library incident, and Alexander had hardly seen Daniel since. The only time he saw the younger male was during meals. After that, Daniel would simply rush off to the guest room where he would lock himself inside and refuse to come out for anything other than food. Even during meals, the younger male would not speak a word.

It had become terribly silent in castle Brennenburg without the naïve young man running around and causing trouble, and Alexander was horrified to learn that he was beginning to miss the noise.

"Daniel?" The older male called out as he walked through the long and dark halls of the castle. He held a lantern out in front of him to illuminate the otherwise darkened path, and he took soft, careful steps; each step he took brought him that much closer to the shorter males room.

Finally he arrived at the door of his destination, and he laid a hand atop the metal doorknob. Usually, when he tried to enter the guest room, Daniel had always remembered to lock the door and it was impossible to get in. This time, however, Alexander would make sure he got in that room, no matter how long it took. He was ready. The baron took a deep breath, quickly twisted his wrist to open the door, and…

…promptly fell through, landing on the floor.

"What the…"

He picked himself up and looked ahead, about to demand an explanation for why Daniel would leave the door unlocked _now _of all times.

His complaints died in his throat as he noticed the room was lit by only a single candle(Daniel usually horded about twelve of them, to 'make sure the darkness can't get him', as he says), and the male in question was using that small light as a guide as he searched through his large suitcase, looking for something.

"Oh, hello, Alexander," Daniel said softly without even looking at the Prussian baron he was addressing. "I'm just shifting through my belongings. I brought a lot of things here, in Brennenburg. It's a bit of a sentimental journey for me."

"…Why did you lock the door." Alexander asked(though it was more of a statement than a question), ignoring the shorter male's statement. If he wanted to be weird, then let him.

"Oh, I remember this!" Daniel exclaimed, ignoring the other as well. He reached deep into his suitcase and took out a large pink parasol. "Herbert forced me to wear this when we went to Algeria and I complained that it was too hot. It was absolutely humiliating."

Alexander wanted to ask why Daniel was smiling if it was so humiliating, but decided to let it drop. Daniel had been acting very strangely these past few days, and he honestly didn't want to know why. He just wanted everything to go back to normal. Hopefully this was all just a phase.

He took a step closer to the shorter male before he was rudely knocked out of the way and his face was smashed into the wall. Alexander groaned loudly as he heard loud footsteps enter the room and over to Daniel's general direction. He pried his face off the wall and rubbed it gingerly as he turned to see what the hell had just knocked him over like a simple pin-

His grunt. Again. Daniel was laughing and petting his grunt. _His _grunt._ Alexander's_ grunt.

Alexander himself felt a large headache coming on.

"There you are!" Daniel exclaimed happily. "I was wondering when you were going to show up. Alexander," he turned to the older male. "You can ride this thing like a horse. It is quite fun. You should try it sometime!"

"What?" Alexander shot up from the floor. "You will _not _use my grunt as a horse! It is a servant made to serve me and follow my orders such as clean this castle, take care of the prisoners-"

"What prisoners?"

"Never mind that, your mind is too feeble and weak to comprehend this just yet, and most important of all, it is to be _my _servant and serve _me_!"

"I believe you already said tha-"

"I'm well aware of what I've said." Alexander groaned, trying to keep his anger and annoyance in. Why had he missed the trouble this git caused? He was sorry he ever even _thought_ of seeing what was wrong with the boy. _Everything_ was wrong with him.

"…Anyway," Daniel continued, choosing to ignore Alexander's rant. "It's quite fast while it runs. I'd hate to be running away from it!"

"Oh _trust me_," Alexander mumbled under his breath so the other couldn't hear him. "I'll _make sure _you get to experience that some day."

"One day, I thought, 'Why not sit on its head and let it carry me everywhere?' So I tried it! It's quite fun!" As if to prove his point, Daniel grabbed hold of one of the leather belts tightly wrapped around the Grunt and hoisted himself on its head. He used the side of his foot to lightly tap the side of the Grunt's head, and off it went.

Instead of running out of the door, it chose to burst through the wall in a very elegant manner.

Alexander could have sworn he was about to have a heart attack.

He ran out of the room(through the actual _door,_ thank you very much) and started to chase after the monster. Of course, it was much faster than him, but it seemed to enjoy running into walls very much, and so Alexander could always tell where it went. He could have sworn his wallet started to scream and wail as he thought of how much the repairs would cost.

"Stop! Stop running right this instant!" He shouted, but it was no use. The Grunt seemed completely unable to hear it, and Daniel's screams proved louder than his own. Whether Daniel was screaming in delight or fear, he did not know.

Alexander stopped running in order to catch his breath and think of a way to stop the rampaging Grunt. Once he felt that he had recovered enough, he ran down the hallway in search of any of his other servants. Whether it was another Grunt or even a Brute, he didn't care; any one would do!

He considered himself lucky when he found a Grunt _and_ a Brute drinking tea in the ruined library. The hearts seemed to snicker at his misfortune as he tried his best to just simply ignore them.

"You two!" He shouted, and the two servants quickly realized their master was in the room and dropped their tea immediately. The two stood up straight, and the Brute even saluted. Alexander suppressed a sniffle; it was so obedient! Unlike that one _other _servant… "Your brother has gone on a rampage thanks to that idiot Daniel. Do whatever you can to stop it! Kill your brother if you must, but don't hurt Daniel. Now go!"

The two seemed to nod before they dashed out of the library, knocking the poor baron over and onto the floor. He groaned and picked himself up, shaking his head. Alexander had enough of this. Those two could handle themselves. He was going to his own bedroom and drink tea. Possibly do yoga. Anything to forget the current situation.

**OoO**

Dear Journal,

Today has been very hectic. I don't know why I even bother with that git; he makes absolutely _everything _worse! If I didn't offer to get rid of his damned Shadow, I would have saved so many things. That idiot is going to cost me my entire life savings. I haven't even lived in this world for very long!

But…no matter how much of a fool he is, and how much I want to get rid of him…I can't. He is vital to my plans. But now…I'm afraid that if I get him to start torturing the prisoners now, his shenanigans will get even _worse,_ if that's possible. Right now, his actions have been harmless. …Well, harmless to living things, anyway. Nothing a paint job cannot fix.

But if I turn him into a murderer now, his later actions will probably extend down to the prison, where he would most likely kill some of my prisoners. I work hard to get them! It's not fair that I have to go through all this trouble while he messes everything up and gets away with a slap on the wrist.

Ugh. Journal, I don't know how much more of this I can handle. It's been an entire week since I've bought you, and everything has somehow managed to get worse after I did. I will not throw you out, however. Hopefully Daniel will come to his senses one day and I can read you years in the future and laugh at how unfortunate I am now.

Hopefully…this will all come to pass.

**OoO**

Alexander had just barely finished his entry when his bedroom door burst open and his two servants walked in carrying an unconscious Daniel. He didn't question what happened to the Grunt when he saw the dried blood on the other Grunt's claws and the blade that served as the Brute's arm.

"Drop him on the bed." he sighed, and his servants followed his orders. After setting Daniel on the bed, the two bowed and walked out. Oh, how Alexander loved his servants…the ones that were loyal to him, anyway. He feared that Daniel would be able to turn them all against him. The thought made him want to cry.

Alexander groaned and realized that Daniel wasn't about to wake up anytime soon; the shorter male was out cold. He sighed as he shoved Daniel not-so-politely off to the side and slid under the covers, shutting his eyes.

He'd have to resort to tying Daniel up if his behavior didn't stop soon.

**OoO**

**A/N: Hey, FF. Guess what.**

**Today's my birthday.**

**You upload this chapter without any problems, and I will consider that as your birthday present to me.**

…

**Uh, yeah. xDD FINALLY the new chapter is up. Sorry it took a while, I've been busy with things.**

**Weird how when I finally update again, it's on my birthday. xDD**

**So, uh…If anyone wants to yell at me anytime at all to hurry and update this story, you can find me on deviantArt under the name 'Rylitah'. I'm on there a lot now, so. :3**

…**Not much to say now. See ya next time, then. o3o**


	5. Alee

**Hi.**

**This is late.**

**Read my excuses at the bottom.**

**OoO**

Today was the day, Alexander decided.

Today was the day he would finally introduce Daniel to the prisoners and the happy, wonderful world of pain, torture, and murder.

What fun the day would turn out to be.

…Of course, he didn't tell Daniel about his plan right away; rather, he would slowly lure him to the dungeons and let the boy figure it out for himself. He didn't know how long that would take, considering how dense the young man was, but even Daniel had to quickly realize what Alexander did as a hobby.

He started off the day by waking his apprentice("A-Alexander, why are you smiling like that-" "No reason. No reason at all."), and brought him down to the dining room for breakfast. Daniel had already seen the grunts and brutes, so there was no more need to hide them. Alexander ordered a random grunt to serve breakfast to them, and during the wait, he decided to have a small talk with Daniel; something to give the younger male an idea of what was to come later in the day.

"So, Daniel…" Alexander trailed off, unsure of how he was about to start the conversation. "I think I'm going to-ow-show you something I'm fairly certain you have not-ow-seen yet. I know you've been in Brennenburg for quite a while now, but-ow-I have been planning on showing you this for weeks, and…will you stop kicking me?"

"Hm?" Daniel looked up from the table to Alexander's face and took in his annoyed expression. The younger male flushed as he noticed he had been kicking his legs impatiently the entire time; there wasn't much of a distance between Daniel's feet and Alexander's legs. "I am sorry, Alexander. Please do go on."

Alexander sighed through his nose. "Anyway. I'm not sure how well you will be able to handle this, so be prepared, all right? What you will see today may come as a shock to you, but I'm sure you will get over it eventually. If not, then I guess you should pack your bags and leave, because then I would have no more use for you!"

Daniel laughed and continued to kick his legs under the table, much to Alexander's annoyance. His laughter carried on for a few minutes as if the elder had told some hilarious joke before it finally started to die down; the younger male had noticed that the other had not been laughing with him.

"Aha…you weren't kidding, were you?"

"No. I was not."

The two sat in an uncomfortable silence before the Grunt Alexander had ordered to create breakfast for them finally emerged from the kitchen, wearing an apron and holding the dish high above its head like a five star restaurant waiter. It placed the dish on the table, gave a slight bow, turned, then walked back into the kitchen.

Daniel started clapping.

Alexander hid his face in his hands, and waited for breakfast to be over with.

**OoO**

Dear Journal,

Daniel hasn't done anything foolish yet as of today, but I'm fairly certain that this will all change once I introduce him to the prisoners. In case of such an event(which I just know will occur), I am bringing you along with me to the prison. Who knows what trouble the boy will cause there?

I think I can list a few things off the top of my head.

He could scream and run away. He could lose trust in me. He could try to free the prisoners. He could faint. He could start crying.

Those are, unfortunately, only things I can list at the top of my head. I'm positive that his reaction will be worse than all of those things combined. Ugh. This is starting to seem like a bad idea, but it's better to show him now than never.

There's also the reactions of the prisoners I'll have to worry about.

They will see Daniel as another enemy(which he will be, I will assure that) to them. I'm not worried about that. I'm worried about what they'll do to him. Daniel isn't very confident, and he is corrupted easily. If the prisoners start shouting death threats and insults to him, he'll start to believe it and he'll be even more annoying than he is now, no matter how impossible that might seem.

I will have to train his mentality and strengthen it; I have gone too far to be ruined now. I hate to admit it, but…the chances of me returning to my own world rely completely on Daniel as of now. If he isn't prepared for it, then everything will be ruined.

Right now, as I write, Daniel is changing his clothes, getting ready for our descent into the dungeon. This may not seem like a very important step in preparation, for even I do not see the importance in it, but Daniel has…weird tendencies and habits. He isn't normal. There's something wrong with him, I swear.

I tried telling him to just go down to the prison in his nightgown, which I did not give him the chance to change out of when we went down to eat breakfast, but he refused to listen and insisted that he changed. Well…now that I think about it, some of the prisoners in the prison are messed up. They could try to assault Daniel, and the nightgown would not provide proper protection. I had to tie them up; they somehow made their way through the bars.

Daniel takes forever in changing his clothes. I swear, he smoothes out every wrinkle and crease in everything he owns, regardless of whether or not he is going to actually wear them. It's quite annoying and time-consuming. If he does not emerge from his room in the next five minutes, I swear I will go in there myself and drag him out, even if he is clad in only his undergarments.

He has been in there for the past hour now.

**OoO**

Five minutes had passed since he put down the quill and he was about to rip open Daniel's door when the door was opened by the young man in question. Daniel was fully-clothed, and he had a soft smile on his face, content with whatever he did in there. Who knew smoothing out wrinkles and lines could have such a positive effect on a person?

"Are you ready?" Alexander bit out, wanting to just grab Daniel's arm and drag him to the elevator already.

"Yes, I am. Thank you for waiting on me, Alexander. So, what is it that you wanted to show me?" Daniel did a little skip out of his room and loosely wrapped both his arms around Alexander's arm like a chain. This had become routine; the younger male would hook himself to the older man and they would stay like that for the remainder of the day.

"Oh, you'll see. It's a bit of a surprise."

"A…surprise?" Daniel shivered at the idea of a surprise. The last time Alexander had a 'surprise' for him, it involved cracking a whip and it ended in tears, screams, and apologies. Daniel did not like the idea of _anything_ similar to that awful hour.

"Yes. A surprise. Don't make me repeat myself so often, Daniel."

"I am so-"

"Don't lag behind, your weight is pushing down on my arm and you're straining it. Walk a bit faster, we're almost at the elevator." Alexander cut him off and refused to let him speak for the remainder of the walk. The two eventually reached the elevator, and the elder male pushed Daniel inside before walking in himself. "We will be moving down."

"Down? What is down there?"

"You'll see. The point of a surprise is that you _not know _what we're doing before we do it." Alexander bit out, his eye twitching. The elevator started to move down, and the two were silent, the loud elevators screeches were enough.

Somewhere along the long way down, Daniel started to hum a lullaby he used to sing to Hazel back in Mayfair. He closed his eyes and remembered the time he read stories to her, and how she would laugh and politely ask him to read more. Daniel loved his sister dearly; it pained him every time he was forced to help out his father with chores and leave her by herself. Hazel was sick. Very sick. But she seemed very healthy and alive whenever he read fables and legends to her, so he continued reading. Yes, as long as he read, she would stay alive…

"Daniel!" Alexander's commanding voice shook Daniel out of his thoughts and the smaller male jumped in surprise.

"Y-yes, Alexander?" Daniel stuttered, trying to regain his composure.

"We're here. What were you thinking about? You seemed…happy."

"N-nothing! Just…old memories."

"…Very well, then. Come along, we haven't got all day." Daniel nodded and resumed his previous position of having his arms wrapped around Alexanders. The two walked in a dim hallway, and Daniel wrinkled his nose at the ungodly smell that seemed to emerge from the direction they were walking in. The smell started to grow stronger and stronger, and Daniel was certain he would pass out from the mere scent of it. What on Earth was _down there_…?

"We're here, Daniel." Daniel was once again shaken out of his thoughts when Alexander stopped walking suddenly and he was almost sent tripping to the floor. He tightened his grip on the elder's arm and managed to stop and straighten himself. The young man looked up and noticed the iron bars surrounding him everywhere. There were actual _people, _real _humans_ trapped behind those bars, screaming for their freedom and for mercy. That was strange, it almost seemed like a…

"Welcome to the prison, Daniel."

Daniel's vision swirled and he fell to the floor, letting go of Alexander's arm. He didn't bother getting up; rather, he clasped a hand over his mouth and looked around him in horror. "A-Alexander…" he started, his voice muffled from behind his hand. "Y-you couldn't p-possibly be keeping a-all of these people t-trapped down here, c-can you…?" There was a bit of silence before Alexander spoke up.

"These people are evil, Daniel. They have committed various crimes, all of them. Their crimes include rape, murder, treason, forgery, robbery, trespassing, and more. Would you really think that I would be able to keep innocents down here? What kind of man do you take me for? I am merely showing these people their proper places. If they don't want to wind up here, they shouldn't have committed their atrocious sins." Alexander lied fluidly. Really, he had just made that all up. Of course they were innocents. He didn't care for them one bit; all that mattered was getting back to his own world; back to familiar surroundings, back to more advanced technology, and back to his wife.

"B-but…" Daniel did not seem to believe him right away; Alexander gave him a bit of credit for it. "These people…They-"

Suddenly, one of the prisoners flung herself at the iron bars, straight at Daniel. She gripped the bars intensely and started shaking them vigorously; Daniel was positive she was going to rip them straight off. However, the bars did their job well, and succeeded in keeping the savage prisoner inside. She screamed vulgarities and swore that she was going to kill Alexander; she hadn't seemed to notice Daniel yet.

Daniel screamed and wrapped himself tightly around Alexander's waist.

"Th-this is crazy!" He cried out. "A-are all of these people like this…?"

"This is what happens to people if they are trapped down here for a while, I'm afraid. It's a sad and horrible thing, really. But there's nothing to be done. They deserve it anyway, the monsters." Daniel whimpered and looked up at the baron with teary eyes.

"And…how long do you keep them down here…?"

"As long as it takes for them to completely lose it. Like that woman who threw herself at you earlier, she's ready. As soon as a prisoner is ready, I simply remove them from their prison and then they will serve their sentence with a death penalty."

"Death penalty?" Daniel shoved himself away from Alexander and wrapped his arms around himself. He brought his head down so that his hair covered his eyes. The young man wasn't looking at him anymore, but for the first time ever, Alexander thought, Daniel was fully screaming in rage. "_You're a murderer!"_

"They deserve it, Daniel!" Alexander shouted back. "It's my duty to show them what it feels like; it's the only way they can repent for their sins!"

"You said some of them were traitors! What's wrong with just going to prison for ten years and then coming back out, having learnt their lesson? This is inhumane! I can't believe…! I can't believe I've been here all this time, without knowing _any_ of this…! I can't believe…I've been trusting a murderer this entire time…haha…"

"I am not a murderer, Daniel." Alexander walked over and lifted Daniel's face up to look into his eyes. Daniel had a crooked smile on his face and had tears flowing freely from his wide eyes. A truly pitiful sight. "I am merely a bringer of justice. Trust me on this. If you still see it fit to call me a murderer…feel free to leave Brennenburg right this instant. I won't stop you. Good luck fighting the Shadow off on your own, however; I'm sure you'll do a wonderful job of it!"

Daniel's eyes widened and he took a few steps backwards to get away from the baron. He stood there in a few moments of silence before speaking once more. "I want to go to bed." Alexander sighed.

"Very well. I will give you time to think about this."

"No." Alexander raised an eyebrow.

"No?"

"I want to sleep with Alee."

"…Who's Alee?"

"Alee is Alee!" Daniel frowned and looked up at the baron, his tears finally having stopped. "Don't tell me you don't know who Alee is!"

"…I'm afraid I don't. Enlighten me; who's Alee?"

"You do not-? Ugh! How could you not know who Alee is? He's been living under your nose this entire time!"

"…I thought Alee was a female."

"Whoever said that?"

"It sounds like a feminine name!"

"You sound like a feminine name!"

"That doesn't even make sense!"

"You do not make sense!"

"This is getting out of hand, Daniel. Now tell me, who's Alee?"

"Alee is Alee!"

"This isn't getting us anywhere!"

**OoO**

Dear Journal,

As it turns out, Alee is one of my Grunts.

Daniel named him.

**OoO**

**A/N: OKAY, EXCUSE TIME.**

**First, my friends and mine's birthday are all close together. The first being February 21st****, the second being the 23****rd****(mine), the third being March 1****st****, and the last being March 5****th****. So there's pretty much parties going on everywhere, and the last one is this weekend, on Saturday.**

**Second, school sucks. Like, a lot. I'm apparently failing Language Arts. And it's not because I suck at it. It's because I'm not turning things in. I apparently have a 35% in that class. The assignments that I've turn in have been A's and B's. I haven't turned in three assignments. TELL ME. HOW DOES THAT WORK OUT. But I asked my teacher if I can turn them in for a late grade, and she says yes. Hopefully that'll be resolved shortly and before my parents can ever find out about it and kill me.**

**Third, I've been stalking the kink meme and deviantArt and pretty much everything besides FF. Someone needs to kick me.**

**Fourth, I literally couldn't think of anything to add in this chapter until yesterday morning.**

**Fifth, I am the largest procrastinator on the planet. Which is why it took two weeks to get just this out. I'm sorry.**

**So there's my excuses. I'll try to get chapter six out soon, hopefully a lot faster than it took for this to get out. I'm really sorry for the wait. ;A;**

**Also, I'm sorry that it suddenly turned really serious near the end. I honestly could not think of a way to add in Daniel finding out about the prisoners without it getting all angsty and stuff like it did up there. So…sorry about that, too.**

**And I think I'm done with this set of author's notes! Once again, I'm really sorry about the wait, and I'll try my best to get the next chapter up here as soon as possible.**

**long a/n is long**


	6. Stay Out

"Ah, Alexander!"

The baron turned around to see a certain apprentice at the end of the hallway, twiddling his thumbs together and looking sheepish. A few minutes of silence passed by before Alexander sighed and realized that he was actually being expected to answer.

"Yes, Daniel?"

Daniel looked up at the ceiling, thinking over his next few words, before finally looking at Alexander's face and allowing a small smile to grace his lips.

"I was wondering, and…I wanted to show you just how much I appreciate you taking me in. I mean, you were the only person who actually replied to me when I sent a letter to every single person in Herbert's contacts book, so…" he took a deep breath. "I am going to make you dinner."

"…What? You can cook, Daniel?"

"Ah…" Daniel rubbed the back of his neck. "When I was younger, I had to feed Hazel and I after our mother died and our father started…well, I would rather not talk about that. But basically, I managed to teach myself a few things, and although I am not the best chef in the world, I assure you my cooking is not dreadful either."

"Did anyone taste your food besides you?" It wasn't that Alexander didn't trust the younger man, but Daniel most definitely was not the brightest tool in the shed, and there were many things that could go wrong. How the food tasted was the least of his worries, to be honest.

"Ah! Hazel did. She said she quite liked my cooking." Daniel placed his hands on his hips and nodded his head. His confidence dwindled as he went on, however. "But…I have not had very much practice with cooking for the past few years, as I was forced to move out. Then I went on the expedition to Algeria with Herbert and the other men; I am still quite unsure what happened to them…And then I'm here!"

"I…see." The older male sighed. "Well, if you're that set on cooking dinner for us, then I'm not going to stop you. Do what you wish, Daniel. I'll send a Grunt down here to monitor you while you're-"

"No!" Daniel interrupted. "I would like to do this myself. Please."

"They won't help you, they'll just watch you. You know, to make sure you don't hurt yourself." _Or destroy my kitchen,_ he added mentally.

"But I do not _need_ supervisors, Alexander," Daniel pressed on. "Are you saying that I can not be trusted by myself in the kitchen?"

"Ah, that's not it at all!" Lie. "It's just that…surely, it would be lonely in there all by yourself, would it not? Wouldn't you like a bit of company?"

"D-do you take me for a fool, Alexander?" Daniel asked bravely. "I know that isn't the reason at all."

Alexander sighed, knowing he lost the fight. Daniel was stubborn when he wanted to be. "Very well," he said. "You may cook dinner for me if you so wish. But! If I hear so much as just _one_ thing burning, I'm sending a Grunt down there, do you hear me?"

"Yes, Alexander! Thank you!"

And with that, the young Briton happily turned on his heel and skipped down the corridor. Halfway there, he turned back around and slowly walked back to Alexander, a sheepish smile on his face.

"Ah…Alexander, where is the ki-"

"Down the hallway and to the left. Take another left, walk straight, and the kitchen is in the third door to the right."

"Thank you!"

**OoO**

Dear Journal,

Today, Daniel wanted to make dinner for himself and me to, ah, 'show his gratitude for me taking him in', as he says. I honestly don't know why he's doing it _now_ of all times, but I suppose it doesn't matter.

I don't know what he's making, and to be quite honest, I don't want to know. He's apparently had cooking experience before, but that doesn't reassure me. He denied my request to send down a few Grunts to supervise him, and when I tried to follow him, he kicked me out and locked the kitchen door! I'm afraid he'll demolish my entire kitchen, and maybe even obliterate the entire hallway. Nothing is certain with that boy.

Maybe I should send a Grunt to spy on him. I'll have to use a stealthy Grunt, one that doesn't growl every five seconds and won't make that damned screeching noise for no apparent reason. It gives me headaches when they do that. Luckily, I know just the one.

The problem will be getting the Grunt in the kitchen. Daniel's locked the kitchen door. Unfortunately, the kitchen door seems to enjoy being as loud as a door could possibly be, and so he would definitely be alerted if it is opened by a key. I suppose I can squeeze the Grunt in there.

Let's try it.

**OoO**

"You know your mission, right, Grunt?"

Alexander spoke to his servant; the two were currently standing in front of the kitchen door with a Brute standing directly behind them. The Grunt nodded.

It was a shame these creatures couldn't speak English; they would make a nice conversational partner. Even German would be nice.

But, Alexander had to admit, now was one of the very few times he actually preferred having someone-some_thing_- around that was not able to speak back. It came in handy in situations like this.

He turned to the Brute behind him and nodded his head. The male and the Grunt both moved out of the way as the Brute inserted its cleaver-like arm into the keyhole and quickly picked the lock. Alexander gave it a thumbs up for a job well done and sent the Brute off as he slowly pushed open the door.

Luckily, Daniel was too busy singing and the fire too busy cackling that the brunette was unable to hear the loud creaks that the wooden door created as it opened just enough so that the Grunt was able to slip in undetected. Alexander quickly closed the door and tiptoed off.

He didn't get to the end of the hallway before he heard screaming.

"What the _hell_ are you doing in here? Get! Out! I told you I didn't need any supervisors, Alexander!"

There were a few sounds of something metal hitting the walls, and a few screams from the Grunt before it all became silent, aside from the cackling fire, of course. The kitchen door flew open and the Grunt was thrown out of the room; it hit the wall with a loud thud. Something else was thrown at it that Alexander couldn't see, and then the wooden door slammed shut.

Alexander dared to inch closer to his servant, wondering what in the world had just happened to it. Upon closer inspection, there were large, clean slashes all across the Grunt's already mangled torso, and the baron realized with horror that there was just a stump where its arm used to be. The arm in question now lay at its feet.

…Well, that answered the question of what Daniel threw at the Grunt.

**OoO**

"Okay, we're going to try this again, except with Alee."

Alexander went over the plan with Daniel's favorite Grunt with the Brute standing loyally by his masters side once again. Daniel always seemed to know how to tell Alee from the rest of the Grunts; surely he wouldn't harm his friend?

Once Alee seemed to understand the plan, the Brute made its way to the door and unlocked it once more. Daniel was not singing this time; instead, he was using a large knife to cut something. He cut with such intensity that Alexander feared he may cut through the counter. He quickly pushed Alee in, closed the door, and ran off.

Once again, he did not make it very far before Daniel found his little spy.

"What? _Again? _I can not-I can not believe this! _Alexander! You will stop this instant!_"

More sounds of things being thrown around the room and a screaming Grunt. The kitchen door once again flew open as Alee was thrown out rather harshly; Alexander noted that at least all of its limbs were still intact.

The baron walked closer to see just exactly how much damage was done this time. There were more knife slashes, Alee's left arm seemed to be bending at a completely odd angle, and there seemed to be a giant dent in its head.

Alexander shuddered; Daniel had told him that Alee was(somehow) named after him.

**OoO**

This time, Alexander decided to venture into the kitchen himself.

He nodded to the Brute, and his minion quickly and silently picked the lock. Alexander noted that there was absolutely no sound at all coming from the kitchen; he'd have to be very careful this time.

The baron grabbed the knob of the door and slowly opened it. The door creaked loudly even so, and he mentally cursed it. He was thinking of a possible place of the kitchen he could hide in when he walked into something soft. Amber eyes looked up to see serious and unamused emerald eyes staring down at him.

"Oh…uh, Daniel!" Alexander quickly straightened himself up from his couching position, trying to act completely normal. "Fancy seeing you here, huh?"

Daniel had his arms crossed and was tapping his foot on the ground.

"Ah…I was just wondering when you would finish! You've been in here for so long, I thought you'd let us starve to death before finally coming out, ahaha!"

"I have been in here for half an hour, Alexander."

"Is…is that so? W-well, then. Time seems to be going by quite slowly right now! The food smells delicious, by the way, I can't want to try it-"

"I haven't started."

"Eh?"

Daniel moved out of the way to prove to Alexander that yes indeed, the brunette had not even started cooking the meal yet. He had all of the ingredients for dinner laid out and ready to be used; he had just finished sharpening the knife. The fire under a pot was still going, aiming to boil water. Other than that, nothing else was complete.

"…Oh," was Alexander's intelligent response. "I see."

Daniel glared at him. Alexander would have laughed at the situation; Daniel was so much shorter and weaker than him. However, the glare was so intense Alexander knew better than to laugh at him. He eyed the sharpened knife clutched tightly in the brunette's small hand.

"I'll…just be going, then." Before Daniel could say anything else, Alexander had quickly ran out of the kitchen and sprinted into the hallway, knocking his loyal Brute harshly into the wall as he did so.

Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Daniel remained glaring at the same spot Alexander was in moments before.

"Maybe I should just make myself dinner. It would serve him right. Hmph."

**OoO**

**A/N: …So, how have you all been this past month? /shot**

**Okay, I WAS going to update on Friday, but then I got sick with the WORST HEADACHE EVERRR accompanied by a very sore throat and it was awful and I felt awful and everything was awful. Saturday was a little better, but there wasn't enough of an improvement for me to be able to go on the internet. Sunday was even more better, and so I was finally able to get on and work on this. And procrastinate about fifty two times in the middle. And I finish this at three in the morning on Monday. Hooray for finally being on Spring Break~**

**So…part of why this is so late is because shortly after uploading chapter five, I got obsessed with the anime Durarara! and focused mainly on that.**

…**Then Amnesia Justine came out and my love for Amnesia started all over again.**

**So! I really will try to update fast next time, and I really hope it won't take me another month to update. xDD**

**Thank you for reading!**


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